Power, Denise, "McClintock Revises its Web Site Strategy,"
in
WWD,
19 January 2000.

Goldbogen, Jessica, "McClintock: From Dresses to
Dressers," in
HFN (Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network),
11 September 2000.

"Bashian to Unveil Jessica McClintock Rug Collection at High
Point Market," in
HFN (Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network),
17 September 2001.

***

At the height of the hippie movement, Jessica McClintock joined the San
Franciscan Gunne Sax Company to design their long, calico, lace-trimmed
dresses, very popular with the young. Besides "granny"
dresses, McClintock also designed lace-trimmed denim clothes and
combined lace with linen. By the 1970s she had added prom dresses and
wedding gowns, continuing to use lavish lace trim, which had become her
trademark.

When the more contemporary Jessica McClintock line was introduced in
1979, Gunne Sax became the little girls' division, for which the
calico, ruffled lace trimmed dresses were eminently suitable. In her San
Francisco shop McClintock sold accessories, cosmetics, and her
higher-priced designs, but it was for her feminine alternative to the
hard-edged emerging high tech trends in fashion that she became known. A
moderately priced Scott McClintock line specialized in misses'
dresses and sportswear, all with the romantic McClintock look, but more
sophisticated than Gunne Sax.

Gunne Sax dresses for teenagers featured ribbons, ruffles, Victorian
lace collars, ballerina length skirts. In the mid-1980s McClintock drew
her inspiration for misses' dresses from the 1920s, combining
straight silhouettes, loose enough for maternity wear, with Victorian
details of lace insertions, peplums, or high collars. McClintock
designed 2,500 outfits per year, each with her unique romantic touches
and femininity. The Jessica McClintock label, aimed at
women in their 20s and 30s, offered special occasion ready-to-wear at
relatively moderate designer label prices.

The use of man-made materials (polyester, acetate, nylon, rayon) made
the lavishly decorated heirloom looks possible at a lower price. Cotton
and linen are also used by McClintock, resulting in tea-gown-length
Edwardian-inspired dresses in ecru, suitable not only for attendance at
weddings, but for wear by the bride for a second or third, less formal,
occasion. McClintock expanded into sleepwear, also romantic and
nostalgic.

McClintock studied what teenagers wore to incorporate new trends, such
as sundresses or the can-can skirts of 1987, and interpreted them in her
own manner. Unlike Jeanne Lanvin's matching mother-daughter
outfits, McClintock designed coordinating little girl-mother or older
sister dresses. The fabrics, colors, and trims might be the same, but
the styling and placement of trimmings differed. In keeping with
mainstream fashion's more opulent evening looks, McClintock began
adding deep color and black velvets into her collection, creating long,
unabashedly romantic gowns. Tight décolleté bodices edged with
heavy white or metallic gold Venetian lace contrasted with lush velvets
falling to the floor, sometimes with a bustle effect, were more demurely
echoed in little girls' dresses reminiscent of
The Little Princess.

McClintock dresses were the sort that might be taken out of a trunk to
be worn over and over again when a woman tires of her mundane everyday
clothes. For juniors, the Scott McClintock line even offered short black
velvet halter dresses, without any lace, paired with black velvet
jackets. Additional sophistication was developed by the use of velvets
brocaded with metallic, stiff bouffant taffeta skirts topped by metallic
floral brocade jackets. More recent additions were a short sexy
strapless black lace dress sparkling with all-over
paillettes.

The McClintock name ran into some trouble in the middle 1990s due to
sweatshop allegations, especially with the group Asian Immigrant Women
Advocates. One of the McClintock's contractors was investigated
by the U.S. Department of Labor, and due to several violations the
McClintock business was listed among the violators published in the
quarterly Garment Enforcement Report. McClintock vowed to investigate
the charges and problems, and in subsequent Dept. of Labor reports was
on both the violatiors list as well as the Trendsetter's list of
businesses setting an excellent labor example. Commenting to
Women's Wear Daily
(22 November 1996) on the firm's presence on both lists
simultaneously, McClintock said, "You can try your best to solve
all the problems, but it's almost impossible to monitor them all
the time."

By the end of the 1990s McClintock frocks were still in
style—both as new apparel and even more so as retro fashion. Prom
gowns were a major hit in 1997 as pastels and flowers were again the
favorites of young women. Even the
Jessica McClintock
fragrance, introduced years earlier, remained a perennial bestseller
among new scents like Clavin Klein's
CK One
and
CK Be,
and Tommy Hilfiger's
Tommy Girl.
In a
Women's Wear Daily
survey of the Top 100 most recognized apparel and accessories brands in
the industry, Jessica McClintock ranked a surprising seventh, behind
such varied powerhouses as Cartier, Tiffany, and Timberland.

In the 21st century the McClintock look continued to be nostalgic
dresses with a sense of mystery, appropriate for both mothers and
daughters. Yet over the ensuing three decades, the McClintock brand had
come to emcompass far more than its well known dresses; the name graced
a myriad of products including sportswear, separates, sleepwear,
hosiery, baby bedding, fragrances, linens, bath collections, kitchen
textiles, upholstery fabrics, furniture, and area rugs. Additonally, the
company had joined of ranks of Internet retailers, introducing a website
with style updates, store locations, and online sales.

—Therese Duzinkiewicz Baker;

updated by Sydonie Benét

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